Diesel engines may be powered by a variety of fuels, including those derived from petroleum sources, and well as renewable sources. For example, efforts have been made to dissolve alcohols such as ethanol in petroleum-based diesel fuel. In other examples, diesel fuels may be derived from lipid sources such as, for example, vegetable oils, animal fats and waste frying oils. In such cases various components of the oil source may be converted into products suitable for combustion within a diesel engine. For example, fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) may be derived from vegetable oils, animal fats and waste frying oils to produce “biodiesels” suitable for use in a diesel engine either with or without other additives. In other examples, such biodiesel products may be mixed with petroleum-based diesel fuels to generate a biodiesel/regular diesel fuel blend.
The advantages of biodiesel over petroleum-based diesel fuel are well known to those in the art. For example, biodiesel may be generated from a more easily renewable source, be more amenable to biodegradation, and may allow for combustion with lower quantities of pollutants. However, the costs of producing biodiesel exceed the costs of producing diesel from petroleum sources. For biodiesel of any type to present an economically viable alternative to petroleum-based biodiesel, apparatuses and methods are required to improve the efficiency of biodiesel production.